Re: Re: Sharon's Newbie Intro

[Guest guest]

Sharon

We're considering a move to PA to be by the Western PA school for the Deaf

in Pittsburg. I like their educational philosphy http://www.wpsd.org.

What you can do to augment the ASL or SEE instruction is implement a

wonderful program I discovered called Fairview learning.

fairviewlearning.net

What I know about MSD (land??) is that it is a very strong ASL school,

like Fremont, and very good with it's proximity to Gallaudet. Is this

school going to provide you CI services?

I would recommend a total communication approach with pidgeon signed

English. She will pick up ASL from her friends. The focus is more on

English language as they grow, and then around middle school time they start

transitioned more to ASL. This is our case, anyway. And my daughter does

have an implant now, too, so I'm familiar with that situation.

Good luck

>But then the representative from MSD assurs me that they

> have been very successful developing strong literacy skills in their

> students with the bi-lingual approach, and says research shows that

> deaf children of deaf parents have stronger literacy skills than

> deaf children of hearing parents, which indicates that bi-lingual is

> best. She was trying to teach me about how ASL is a " concept "

> language that is more appropriate for younger children than learning

> English grammar, and I guess I just don't " get it " because I haven't

> yet learned what ASL is all about. ASL seems so general and non-

> specific to me, but those who use it say that it isn't like that at

> all. <throwing up hands> But then I think, what if we teach Cami

> SEE, and the CI doesn't work the way we hope and she doesn't develop

> speech and can't be mainstreamed into the public school system. If

> that happens, she'll already be experiencing isolation from her

> extended family that doesn't sign--I don't want her to be isolated

> from the deaf community as well. But my friend who was an

> interpreter says that if we teach SEE, ASL will be easy for her to

> pick up.

>

> Forgive me for going on and on about this--I don't expect anyone to

> solve these dilemas for me, but it helps to write them out. I hope

> I'm not offending anyone in the process.

>

> Sharon

>

>

>

> All messages posted to this list are private and confidential. Each

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>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/8/2004 10:44:41 AM Pacific Standard Time,

heysharon@... writes:

<<But then I think, what if we teach Cami

SEE, and the CI doesn't work the way we hope and she doesn't develop

speech and can't be mainstreamed into the public school system. If

that happens, she'll already be experiencing isolation from her

extended family that doesn't sign--I don't want her to be isolated

from the deaf community as well. But my friend who was an

interpreter says that if we teach SEE, ASL will be easy for her to

pick up.>>

One thing to remember while you are worrying about all of this...and I know

it's impossible not to try to predict the future...is that Cami is young

(unless I'm thinking of someone else). You will find out about the CI while she

is

still at a very early language level. The scope of her language in ASL or SEE

by that time will not be huge whichever way you go, and I don't think making

a change at that point, if necessary, will be hard.

~Rhonda~

Mom to Audrey, 7, hearing & Neal, 4 1/2, CII 6-11-02

[Guest guest]

Sharon

I would describe PSE as you say. And yes, you use your voice at the same

time as you sign. It's also known as sim-com (simultaneous communication).

Hayley was 10 when implanted...almost 2 years ago. She has made great gains

in using her voice to speak. I anticipate we will sign always which is

great. The implant gave her more access to sound than she ever had with

hearing aids. When she was younger, implants were not as common as they are

now, and there was a strong resistance to them. Times have changed and so

have we, so we made the decision to implant, and its' been good.

I'm glad to hear MSD is implementing a CI program. I know one lady who was

instrumental in getting oral/aural based curriculum at MSD. I hope she

reads this post.

>

[Guest guest]

Sharon

I would describe PSE as you say. And yes, you use your voice at the same

time as you sign. It's also known as sim-com (simultaneous communication).

Hayley was 10 when implanted...almost 2 years ago. She has made great gains

in using her voice to speak. I anticipate we will sign always which is

great. The implant gave her more access to sound than she ever had with

hearing aids. When she was younger, implants were not as common as they are

now, and there was a strong resistance to them. Times have changed and so

have we, so we made the decision to implant, and its' been good.

I'm glad to hear MSD is implementing a CI program. I know one lady who was

instrumental in getting oral/aural based curriculum at MSD. I hope she

reads this post.

>

[Guest guest]

To this end, I also would recommend parents of deaf kids on this list, who

use sign, to check out the Fairview Learning program at

fairviewlearning.net. The questions such as " Do you see what I mean "

would be brought to life by the teaching/reviewing of the dolch words.

>>signs aren't conceptual. If I say " do you see what I mean "

>obviously I mean do you understand? " but with SEE you would also

>sign " do you see what I mean? " >